HOLOCENE LAND-USE, SETTLEMENT PATTERNS, AND LITHIC RAW MATERIAL USE IN CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA

In the past 15 years, GAI Consultants, Inc. (GAI) has conducted archaeological investigations at 23 sites for the Corridor L and Robinson North projects within central West Virginia. Diagnostic artifacts from sites in both study areas confirm frequent use of central West Virginia during the Early, M...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeology of Eastern North America 2006-01, Vol.34, p.121-139
Main Authors: MacDonald, Douglas H., Lothrop, Jonathan C., Cremeens, David L., Munford, Barbara A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeological sites
Creeks
Flint
Highlands
Material culture
Native Americans
Raw materials
Settlement patterns
Travel
Woodlands
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Summary:In the past 15 years, GAI Consultants, Inc. (GAI) has conducted archaeological investigations at 23 sites for the Corridor L and Robinson North projects within central West Virginia. Diagnostic artifacts from sites in both study areas confirm frequent use of central West Virginia during the Early, Middle, and Late Archaic, as well as during the Late Woodland. While the overall pattern of upland land-use was similar between the two study areas, lithic raw material data from these sites suggest contrasting mobility patterns during the Holocene in central West Virginia. For the Corridor L sites, regional travel encompassed an area bounded by the Greenbrier River in the east, the Elk River in the north, and the Gauley River in the south. The Muddlety Creek valley (Corridor L) may have marked the western edge of the travel realm. In contrast, lithic raw material data from two sites in Robinson North (Skink Rocksheiter and site 46Ni424), located approximately 20 miles west of Corridor L, indicate a possible realm of travel including the lower Gauley River, the Kanawha River Valley, the Ohio River, and the Muskingum River and nearby streams in eastern Ohio. Based on data from Robinson North and Corridor L, a hunter-gatherer land-use model is applied to the region. Lithic raw material data suggest that eastward-oriented micromovements and mesomovements were more common for Native Americans along Corridor L, but that westwardoriented micromovements and macromovements were more common for Native Americans at Robinson North. The contrasting mobility patterns for Native Americans in the two study areas, Corridor L and Robinson North, may indicate the emergence of band territories that remained stable for much of the Holocene.
ISSN:0360-1021